The Colon Club

Hello Everyone,

Just got my blood test back today, and for the first time in 4 test my Monocytes, MCV, and MCH are hight. Is this something to be concerned about? I see my oco on Tuesday. I'm stage 3b.

Thanks!!!

Roddy

are you taking xeloda? if so, it may be the culprit.

Hello,

Yes, I am taking Xeloda.

Thanks!!!

Roddy

Those are all things that are elevated in Xeloda patients. The MCV (mean corpuscular volume) is used by some oncs as a dosage test - high means the patient is getting enough to be effective.

Hope this helps!
Julie

Hi Julie,

Thanks for the info!

Roddy

Juliej, curious about the comment you made about MCV as an indicator of adequate dosage -- do you have any details about this?

My husband's is in the normal range, so I hope that is not a sign he's not getting adequate dosage.

My monocytes, MCV and MCHC were all elevated above normal range....they went back down after Xeloda chemotherapy. Here are some links about MCV and Xeloda...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24659646
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12569298
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d4b6/f ... 0d8c96.pdf

Thanks, beckster!

I finally had a chance to look at those links on Xeloda increasing MCV and its predictive value. Does this mean that if MCV stays the same, completely in the middle of the normal range, that the chemo (currently folfiri in my husband's case) may be at an adequate dosage or otherwise "isn't working"? From those articles, it seems that the higher the MCV, the better, during chemo. Always something to be worried about.......!

AND, as usual, I came across a confounder! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28795308

This abstract confuses the heck out of me. "The multivariate analysis of the factors associated with the DFS showed that stage and MCV were significant factors; an MCV of <80 fL was associated with a superior DFS in comparison to an MCV of 80-100 fL (hazard ratio: 0.31, 95% confidence interval: 0.13-0.61, p = 0.0003). The DFS in patients with an MCV of <80 fL was superior to that in patients with an MCV of ≥80 fL, irrespective of whether the patients underwent postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy." Normal range is 80-100, but DFS in patients with an MCV of <80 was superior to that in patients with an MCV of ≥80 (normal)??? So bizarre, really.

FWIW I just went back and checked my MCV values while on Folfox and it was always in the normal range and the Folfox seemed to do its job so I would not worry about it.

Dave

Thanks, gravelyguy. I hope that whatever predictive factor MCV has is just like pretty much every other biomarker there is, e.g. CA19-9, CEA, LD, which don't necessarily tell much for some people.